The NSW Government has apologised to tens of thousands of high school graduates who received HSC certificates printed with the wrong date.

Key points:

The Education Minister is furious with the error and said it would be "rectified immediately"

NSW's Education Standards Authority will not receive additional money to reprint the certificates

The NSW Opposition described the error as a "bungle of epic proportions"

Education Minister Rob Stokes blamed the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for a "human error" that meant incorrect year was printed at the bottom of every student's certificate.

He said he was "incredibly disappointed" by the error and vowed NESA would fix it.

"Our students show incredible diligence and excellence when undertaking the HSC exams and we expect the independent authority that's charged with administering the exams to demonstrate the same level of care and diligence," Mr Stokes said.

HSC certificates seen by the ABC show the fine print at the bottom reading "Issued by NESA without alteration or erasure on 14th December 2017".